After the ‘take down’ at the gallery yesterday, I stopped off at Boxgrove Priory and wondered around the graveyard for a little while. Here are the some of the fruits of my labours. The full set along with the Foxglove shots from the other day can be viewed on my Flickr account. Boxgrove Priory is the perfect place for a bit of quiet photographic therapy. It’s very tranquil and and scenic. The original 12th-14th century Benedictine Priory (where regular archaeological digs take place) is situated next to the Boxgrove Church dedicated to St. Mary and St.Blaise. I didn’t take any shots of the old Priory itself yesterday, as it is well covered ground, though previous shots can also be found on my Flickr account. Essentially, this is about getting to know my new camera.

This is me and my new Holga 135BC. I waited over three weeks for this baby to arrive.  Bit obsessed with lomography photography at the moment. I have a Diana Mini, a pink Holga 120CFN and now this, the Holga 135BC. Why get another Holga? Two reasons, this one takes 35mm film (which you can buy easily and get processed just as easily) as opposed to 120mm film, which is what the other Holga takes and not easy to find labs to process the film. Also, this one being a BC (Black Corner), it has a masking feature which adds to the interesting shadowy vignette in the four corners of the photo.

If you want a more detailed account of what lomography is then read my post here. Suffice to say, this was my first outing with my yellow Holga, and I am quite excited to see how the shots I took today come out. I shall take my film into Chichester later in the week as I think it’s going to be very different from the Diana.

Bless them, Luke and Orla are very tolerant of my photography passion, and patiently wait for me while I take pictures of sunsets, plants, trees, sea, flowers and anything else that piques my interest. Eventually though at some point, Orla will come and wag her finger at me, and tell me I am ‘taking too many pictures’.

The shot I took today was taken with my Fuji S9600.

P.s. Want to know why I had to wait three weeks for this, when I could have got one much sooner from the UK?  Because I could only get a yellow one from Hong Kong, and it HAD to be colourful. Goes nice with the green doesn’t it.

I will take pictures over the course of a week of myself (or even just one), or something that is meaningful to me, e.g a portrait shot, a setting, a still life shot, outdoors etc, but always themed, and then post to my Flickr account and the 52 Week Project Flickr Group.

I will also blog it here every Saturday. The photos may be just portraits, or myself in situations, or a featuring a concept,or an object.  We shall see.  It will be a process of exploration and see if I can learn anything new about myself, or…just learn something new.

I would love you people to join in with me, and if you decide to, then just leave a reply. And yes Rona, I will do a blog badge

But, it could have been better. Reviewing my years resolutions I can safely say that few of them I was able to accomplish.   I did not lose two stone, I didn’t get fit,  I didn’t spend less time on my laptop, I wasn’t significantly nicer to my husband. There are others, but these will suffice.

However, rather than being negative, let’s look at what I did achieve.

1. I built my own online  shop on Zen Cart. A LOT of work, not just coding but understanding how a pretty nifty ecommerce solution worked.

2. I bought a new camera and filters, and learnt a lot more about the technical process of photography.

3. I improved my artistic skills and got better (in my opini0on) at painting, and sold quite a bit of art, both online and privately.

4.  I entered two very big national competitions. One photography and one original art. I wasn’t placed in either, but it was a valuable learning experience from both, and I plan to re-enter this year.

5.  Went to South Africa and survived the horrendous flight. Also, actually drove there, first time I have driven a car in a foreign country.

6.  Bought the Gocco printer I wanted and worked out how NOT to make  a mess.

7. Played my flute more than I have done for a long time.

8.  Forged some new friendships and reinforced old ones. In particular, Nicola Humphries; a lovely warm and friendly human being. Also, Andrea Roberts; kind, patient and generous. Lastly, my oldest friend Felix Muckart. We ‘found’ each other and I was able to let go of ancient hurt and heal old scars.

9.  Rebuilt two of my websites from scratch, one using a CMS and another (this one) on WordPress.

10. Bought a very good printer and started selling my own prints for my artwork.

11. Coped better than expected with my little girl starting school, joined the committee and actually made things for the school fair.

So, not too shabby. Here is what I intend to achieve in 2010.

2010 Goals and Aspirations:

1.  Be a better friend to my husband, who deserves so much more.

2.  Be a better mother (always striving) to my Orla, and spend more quality time with her, and less time on my laptop etc.

3.  Remember to count my blessings and live every day to the fullest.

4.  Continue to improve my artistic skills both technically and spiritually,  and explore new mediums. Go back to my roots somewhat and undertake new work with traditional subject matter, e.g. life drawing. Also, work my way through my Photoshop and Painter manuals and utilise my Wacom Intuos a lot more.

5.  Find one or two good, friendly and trustworthy galleries to showcase my work.

6.  Put on my own art exhibition. Not as hard as it sounds, I did it before when I was younger, I can do it again.

7.  Enter three competitions this year, both photographic and art.

8.  Play my flute every day.

9.  Start singing again.

10.  Lose two stone and start training and cycling again.

11. Cut down on my chocolate consumption and eat a healthier diet.

12.  Build a fitted wardrobe in our bedroom and redecorate my studio/workspace.

13. Save up enough money for our trip to South Africa next Christmas.

14. Start hanging all the lovely art and photography I have collected in my own home.

So that’s it.  Here is to a better year for all of us.  Striving to be a better person, and more creative. On a positive note, a gallery owner recently told me that my art was ‘an antidote to the recession’. I take that as a compliment and to be very encouraging.

EDIT:

Jessica Doyle, my talented friend has just written her 2010 Goals and tagged me. So, later on today I will tag some friends also.